Learn exactly what makes a web application different from a website – so you can start dreaming of the possibilities for your business!
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What is a web application
- How data is added to a web app from multiple sources, unlike a website
- The way that web apps control access to data
- The ways that web apps present data to users that differ from websites
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Transcript
Today you can order groceries, book a ride or take a class online in a few taps. That's raised what people expect from every business, including yours. Meeting those expectations matters, and beating them is a real advantage. In this course, you'll learn to build that kind of online experience in Ontraport, without hiring developers. Let's start with what a web application actually is.
A website is basically a set of pages with words, links, images and videos. Every visitor sees the same thing. A web application usually shows completely different information to each visitor, and it's much more interactive. When you log into a social network, you see your own profile and your own feed, not someone else's. That's a web app.
Let's take a familiar one, Airbnb, and break it down into the five things almost every web app does.
First, it adds data. Hosts fill out forms to list their space, and guests enter their details to book.
Second, it stores and connects related data. Each listing is linked to its location and its features, like whether it has a kitchen, so you can filter for exactly what you want.
Third, it processes data. New listings get published, spaces taken off the market drop out of search, and hosts get dashboards that update in real time.
Fourth, it controls access. You log in, and you see only your own private information.
And fifth, it presents that stored data. Listings show up in search results, and the same data fills messages like booking confirmations and reminders.
Ontraport has tools for each of these five functions. To add data, you use forms, imports and the API. To organize it, you use fields, objects and the relationships between them. To control access, you use user accounts, detailed permissions and membership site login forms. To process data, you use automations, webhooks and the API. And to present it, you use dynamic pages, dynamic blocks, different page types and publishing options, plus merge fields in your messages.
For example, a relationship lets a company record list all of its contacts.
And dynamic pages are created automatically from your saved records. You design one template, and each page shows a different record's content.
Together, these no-code tools make up Ontraport's Dynamic Content Management System, or Dynamic CMS. You don't need to hire developers, and you don't have to handle hosting, maintenance or scaling.
To use it, the account owner adds a Dynamic CMS package. Click your profile icon, then Account, and next to "Add Dynamic CMS to your account," start a trial or add a plan. Each package includes a set number of custom objects and records.
You can build an app from scratch, or start with a prebuilt app, like Blogs, Courses and Lessons, Forums or Knowledge Base. You turn those on from your profile icon, then Apps.
So: a website shows everyone the same pages, and a web app shows each visitor their own information. Every web app adds, stores, processes, controls access to and presents data, and Ontraport has a tool for each one. Next up, we'll take a closer look at the five functions of a web app.
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